then mitt romney said that he wanted to go after pbs in a certain yellow character. the president had fund with that 59 the rally. >> thank goodness somebody is getting tough on big bird. it is about time. we didn't know that big bird was driving the federal deficit. but that's what we her last night. how about that? elmo, too? >>reporter: a counter punch the president did not use. the good news today, you go back in history, a lost incumbents have lost the first debate and come back strong and won the other debates. reagan in 1984 and bush in 2004, and the cloud was being warmed up with journey's "don't stop believing." and they are pushing a narrative we heard from john roberts that mitt romney lied his way through the debate and the math does not add up is all of this will catch up on mitt romney on the tax cuts. i talks to the voters, obama fan s, several of them think romney won because of his gravitas. listen to david axelrod on a conference call today. >> he may win the oscar for the performance but he will not win the presidency if his performance last night.